Problems Passed
by Paigeriffic
Summary: Cole gets a visitor from the future and the outcome is far from happy. *Renamed*


A tall, dark haired man slowly walked up a flight of steps and pushed open a large door. He dumped a couple of bags onto a small side table and clicked the answer machine.  
  
"No new messages." Intoned the machine's emotionless voice.  
  
He smiled ruefully and rubbed his chin, fingers slightly rasping on the rough stubble. "No change from usual."   
  
There was a sudden rustling behind him and he spun round. One of the bags was sliding off the table. It fell off the edge and its contents began to fall out.  
  
The man sighed and lazily held up his hand. The bag and its spilled items seemed to slow in mid-air, as if they were partially stuck in tar. He walked over, boots thudding dully on the polished wooden floor. He began to pluck the barely moving items out of the air and place them back into the bag.  
  
The slow effect suddenly wore off and a bottle of red wine fell to the floor, shattering on impact. He cursed under his breath and looked at the crimson liquid now splattered on his trousers.  
  
He bent down to clean up the mess on the floor. With a sharp intake of breath he stood up. Something wasn't right, something felt... different.  
  
A bright circle of swirling light appeared in front of the door. Blue and silver lights rippled across the surface.  
  
The man recoiled and stared in wonder at the strange anomaly that had just appeared in his hallway. He stared through it, there seemed to be three distorted figures looking at him, through the strange circle. He stepped up to it and cautiously put a hand on its surface.  
  
Almost immediately a clenched fist shot out and caught him hard in the jaw. He gasped in shock and was propelled backwards, landing on his back in the ruined wine.  
  
A woman stepped out of the circle and it pulsed a few times before diminishing. She stared down at the man with a look of contempt. "Been shopping? That is a good vintage... or at least, *was*, a good vintage."  
  
He stared at the woman before him. She was wearing a tight fitting pair of black trousers, with a dark blue blouse over the top. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come out.  
  
She leaned forwards and stared him straight in the eye. "Cat got your tongue, Cole?" She straightened up and shook back her long hair.  
  
Cole sat on the floor, mesmerised by the way the light tinted the woman's hair. Deep red flecks caught the light. "I... Um..." He gulped and ran a confused hand through his hair. "What's going on with that portal? Why do you look like... that?"  
  
She pouted and slowly ran her hand along one arm and down her slim stomach, stopping just below her navel. "Don't you like it? I've been trying to hard to stay in shape. Its shocking how much ten years changes the body."  
  
"But why are you here, Phoebe?" Cole got to his feet and surveyed her with mixed emotions. His eyes lingered on her figure while his mind told him to be wary.  
  
"Its funny story. I fell in love with a half demon; we sneaked around behind my family's back and eventually became the king and queen of evil. Then I started to come to my senses and I quit the queen job, and then vanquished the king. I tried to move on but the ex-demon ex-boyfriend wouldn't let me. Is this sounding familiar or do you want me to carry on?" She had a steely glint in her eyes and her mouth was set in an angry line.  
  
"I... We... We were... are, in love!" Cole protested, a sickly feeling in the pit of him stomach, as he stumbled for words.  
  
Phoebe sneered and shook her head. "You just don't learn. I don't want to be with you now, and I don't want to be with you in the future. You are bad, Cole! You don't want to be good; you want to be with me. Whichever side I'm on be damned, you just want me."  
  
He opened his mouth and started to speak. "But we are soul mates Phoebe! We belong together; we've been through so much. We love each other!"   
  
Phoebe spoke each word in time with him, her voice slightly mocking. She sadly shaking her head when he stopped. A shocked and scared look appeared on Cole's face. "I've heard it all before. A million times before. I used to love you, then I realised our love was bad, it was wrong! Do you know how many people were hurt before I knew it had to stop?"  
  
"But, but... they don't matter. Only we matter. Only us." He stammered. His face flushed and his eyes had a mad, shining quality to them.  
  
"No, Cole. Not only us. Do you know why I came back? Because you went too far. You killed Piper in an attempt to get me back." Her face twisted with pain and she sniffed back tears. "That's why I came back, to kill you in the past so you wouldn't be able to hurt us in the future."  
  
Cole's eyes widened and he backed away from her. His mouth was open and he was panting slightly.  
  
Phoebe pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and held it up. "This spell will vanquish you, quickly and painlessly. Don't make us hurt each other anymore than we already have. Please." Her hand was shaking slightly and pain showed in her eyes.  
  
"Kill... me? Are you serious?" His voice had taken on an incredulous tone. "I love you Phoebe, and you love me. How can you want to kill me? Your sister doesn't matter, she never wanted us to be together anyway."  
  
Phoebe snarled and screwed up the spell. Fury possessed her features and she threw it to the ground. "Quick and painless, pah! You don't deserve quick and painless. You deserve to suffer!"  
  
She held out both hands and quickly rose into the air. She hung there and stared at him. Her eyes suddenly glazed over and a milky white covered them. Her palms crackled with an electric blue as some kind of current built up.  
  
A stream of sparks streamed out of her palms and flowed towards Cole. He was surrounded with them for an instant, a temporary halo of energy around his head. The sparks suddenly disappeared into his temples. He gave a sharp intake of breath and rubbed his eyes uncertainly. When he removed them dark blue lights flickered and moved around in his irises.  
  
Phoebe still hung there, the strange light still crackling over her hands.  
  
Cole stared at her, uncertain of what to do. He suddenly spun around and stared at the dark passage behind him. He could have sworn he heard... no. It couldn't be. She was dead. He heard it again and quickly turned back around.  
  
Prue stood in front of him. He almost screamed but regained his composure and punched forwards, aiming towards her head. His hand moved through her, trails of a dark, smoky light clinging to his hand. She disappeared. He frantically shook the trails off and moved towards Phoebe.  
  
Prue appeared in front of him... and then another behind him. More and more Prue's appeared around him, all giving him a supercilious stare that he had come to fear from the real Prue.   
  
"Once a demon, always a demon."  
  
"I should have vanquished when I first laid eyes on you."  
  
"You ruined our lives! Phoebe's life!"  
  
The Prue's started shouting at him, their voice's loud and uncoordinated. He frowned and swiped some away, but to no avail. More Prue's popped up to fill the gaps. He held his hands up to his ears, trying to block out the sound. It became louder and louder. He dropped to his knees and shouted at them to stop.  
  
Phoebe broke out of her trance and the Prue's disappeared.   
  
Cole shakily got to his feet and rubbed his eyes again. The strange lights were gone. "Did you... do... that?" He asked strenuously, staring up at Phoebe's face.  
  
She looked down on him and sniffed disdainfully. "What do you think? Multiple images of the one person you actually feared just happened to appear on their own?"   
  
He stood up and walked towards her, arms outstretched. "Phoebe, come on. If we just talk then..."  
  
Phoebe swung forwards and kicked him hard in the chest, her feet making a hollow thumping on impact.  
  
Cole's breath exploded from his mouth as the force of Phoebe's kick sent him flying backwards.  
  
She gently lowered herself to the ground and strode forwards, her face flush but impassive.  
  
"Phoebe, stop just let me..." He began, as Phoebe leapt into the air. She sailed forwards and halted just in front of him, turning slightly to the side so her kick would catch him in the side of the head.  
  
He was sent spinning into the wall and stood reeling from the blow, propping himself up against the cold, painted surface. He panted for breath and turned to Phoebe.   
  
She dropped out of the air and landed in a crouch. With one hand she pushed the hair out of her eyes.  
  
Cole leapt forwards and threw himself at Phoebe, attempting to catch her in his arms. At the last instant she flew upwards, causing him to crash into the floor.   
  
Phoebe dropped fast and smashed both feet into him. "Don't touch me, you filthy demon."  
  
She tried to jump off him but he shot his hand out and grabbed her foot. "Just let me hold you, Phoebe. Everything will be right again." His hand moved up her leg, groping for a hold.  
  
Phoebe screamed and bent down towards his hand, scratching and stabbing it with her nails. "Get off me! Don't, don't... just get off!"  
  
Cole heard the sobs in her voice and pulled her harder. "You know you want me! And I want you! Don't fight it." He strained against her. The cloth of her trousers ripped and exposed a bronzed calf.   
  
She finally broke away and stared down at the big red marks on her leg. "You see? Do you see? You hurt me, you don't try to but you do!"  
  
He stared at the marks and then at his hands, the breath catching in his throat. "I... I won't... I didn't mean... to. I won't do it again."  
  
"I know. I'm going to end this." She held out her hands and rose into the air again. The blue light crackled and spread into Cole.  
  
He looked around nervously and expected to see Prue again. A cloud of smoky light appeared in front of him and he backed away, hand moving to his throat.  
  
The light formed into a pair of people. He looked in shock. It was him... and Phoebe! They were together, laughing and kissing... smiling. His heart warmed and he looked at Phoebe, barely containing his happiness.   
  
Suddenly the image changed. Phoebe was still there, but he had disappeared. There was another man there... taking his place!" He snarled and swept his hand through the image, but another sprung up. Phoebe with a different man. He did the same. Five more images of Phoebe with different men popped up. Then five more... and more and more. The visions of Phoebe began to speak.  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I'm so happy."  
  
"You are so good to me."  
  
"We'll be together!"  
  
All the couples laughed and kissed and smiled and acted like normal happy couples. Cole screamed at them. "Get off her! Don't touch her, she's mine! Mine!" His voice rose to a barely audible shriek and he waved his arms around, trying to hit the images away.  
  
The visions of the Phoebe's partners faded away and the Phoebe's turned to stare at him.   
  
They spoke in unison. "I never loved you." One by one they repeated it, until the cacophony of their voices made the air vibrate.  
  
Cole whimpered and dropped to his knees again. He tried to block out the sound, but it penetrated his ears and seemed to thrum inside him. He shakily stood up and swayed on the spot, as he gripped his ears and muttered softly to himself.  
  
The Phoebe's slowly began to disappear, the voices fading, until there was one left. She stepped up and leant in close, whispering in his ear.  
  
"I never loved you...Demon."  
  
Cole screamed and raised his arms upwards, flames blossoming in his chest and spreading outwards. His body flared up in one final nova and then exploded away.  
  
Phoebe looked at the smoke hanging in the air and the greasy stain on the wall. Her eyes filled with tears and she brought her hands up to her face. The portal sprang up behind her and with a heart-broken sob she fled.  
  
  
A/n I most probably won't be continuing this... how could I?  
A/n I shocked myself in writing about Phoebe and Cole... and writing them as 'normal' characters, not a dumb dumb bimbo and a closet homosexual. 


End file.
